TV Ratings: Blue Wave Fuels Surge in Midterm Election Night Viewing, NBC Leads Early

NBC led US midterm election night television coverage, drawing an average of 6.8 million primetime viewers as Democrats made strong gains. The result marked a shift from 2022, when NBC ranked fourth among the six largest news outlets, and could make it the first broadcast network to lead a federal election night since 2012.

ABC averaged 5.12 million viewers, while CNN, MS NOW and Fox News each drew about 4.0 to 4.16 million; their positions may change as fuller ratings data arrives. The six networks together reached 27.05 million viewers, already above the 2022 total of 25.43 million, though below the 2018 record of 36.11 million. NBC’s Kornacki Cam livestream recorded 29 million views across platforms, including 6.1 million on YouTube.